December 4th, 2022 Ministry…

December 4th, 2022

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
777 Bay Street, 17th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2J3

Dear Minister Clark,

It is with great concern that we submit these comments on the Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan (ERO #019-6216) as part of the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022.

In relation to the larger systemic changes to Ontario’s Land Use Planning regime, associated with the More Homes Built Faster Act as well as a series of other legislative changes, including Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan, we are concerned that a matter of fundamental importance has been overlooked: the rights, interests and concerns inherent to First Nations.

Ontario is underlain by Treaties. As such, there are Aboriginal Rights, Treaty Rights, and Inherent Rights of those who were here before the Province of Ontario was founded.

Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan
The Greenbelt Plan sets aside key landscape features that protect the vital function of farmlands and ecosystems. The Greenbelt Plan area is covered by a number of Treaties that provide for Treaty rights and Aboriginal rights within the Plan area. It is our understanding that to meet the housing crisis, the Government of Ontario plans to open up protected Greenbelt land for development – approximately 7,400 acres.

These proposed removals of treatied land from the Greenbelt will omit natural heritage policy protections to facilitate development. This is a significant change to an important provincial law around natural resource protection on treatied lands. The lack of planning rationale for the removal of land, which previously met Greenbelt criteria, undermines the value of existing laws, and destabilizes public confidence and investor certainty in land-use related decision-making. More importantly, we understand that consultation with First Nations has not occurred.

Analysis
The Greenbelt was created in 2005 out of the territory of at least a dozen Indigenous communities through limited consultation with First Nations. Now, the proposal to remove 7,400 acres of protected Greenbelt lands 17 years later, without consultation and accommodation of Aboriginal rights and interests, is a legal regression that runs the risk of placing Ontario outside of:

Truth and Reconciliation (Call to Action: 92 (i) )
Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (UNDRIP, 2016)
Aboriginal, Treaty, and Inherent rights (Sec. 25 & 35, Constitution Act, 1982)
Duty to Consult & Accommodate (Sparrow, 1990; Delgamuukw, 1997; Haida, 2004; Taku River, 2004; Mikisew Cree, 2005; SON, 2017)
Provincial Policy Statement (Sec. Vision, 1.2, 2.0, 2.6, & 4.0)

In addition, the 13 urban river valleys in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, that would replace some of the land to be removed under the current proposal, are not of equal or greater value because they are not contiguous to the existing Greenbelt and because they are already protected from development; their addition does not truly increase the area of protected lands.

Conclusion
The Shared Path does not support the proposed removal of land from the Greenbelt for the following reasons:

Abrogation of duty to consult and accommodate with Indigenous peoples;
Lack of rationale for the lands selected for removal; and
The lands that would replace the lands to be removed are not comparable.

By ignoring the jurisdictional foundations of lands in Ontario, the Government of Ontario may ultimately place the Honour of the Crown at risk. Reconciliation means reestablishing a relationship as treaty partners, on a nation-to-nation basis, via trust and cooperation. Unilateral actions from the Government of Ontario as it relates to land undermines reconciliation.

Yours respectfully,

The Public Policy Committee of Shared Path Consultation Initiative
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The Shared Path Consultation Initiative
The Shared Path Consultation Initiative (Shared Path) is a charitable organization that addresses the challenges and opportunities where land use change and Aboriginal and Treaty Rights intersect. Planning has the potential to impact Indigenous political and territorial claims. In response to the TRC Calls to Action 47, 57, and 92, Shared Path provides resources for First Nation, Métis, municipal, and provincial governments, as well as professionals in land use change to better engage in consultation and relationship-building.